1. Television Distraction Experiment
2. Kara Freeman
3. So far I have not found any previous research done on my experiment. I hope to demonstrate through this experiment that television is a distraction when trying to fill out a survey.
4. I will have one independent variable with three levels as well as a control group. They are listed as follows:
a) control group (no T.V.)
b) T.V. on with regular volume
c) T.V. on but muted
d) T.V. on with volume facing away from participants
I will use an Independent Groups design with people of similiar interests (i.e.-that have the same major).
5. I have no questions at this point.
Kara-
How will you opeationally define your dependent variable?
1. Gender, Persuasion, and the Art of Fast-Talking
2. Ty Schepis
3. Previous research by Miller, et. al. (1976) and Schaffer and Smith (1991) have shown that the faster a person talks, the more convincing they are. This only occurs when the speaker is arguing for a point that the listener originally disagreed with.
b. I will use the question of gender with these findings, and address whether a male or female is more convincing under these circumstances.
c. The null hypothesis states that there will be no significant difference between males and females in persuasive ability. The research hypothesis would state that there is a difference between the groups, with one being significantly more persuasive. I guess that males would probably be more persuasive, because they are more generally authority figures, but who knows.
4. My design is a 2 X 2 factorial using college students.
a. There are 2 independant variables, gender and speech speed.
b. Gender is operationally defined in this case as pitch of voice, and speech speed is defined in words/minute.
c. Gender has a low voice level (male) and a high voice level (female); Speech speed is either fast (200 wpm) or slow (140 wpm)
d. It's independant groups.
5. I don't have any pressing questions now.
1.Customer Response to Server Attitude
2.Brandon Ray
3.No previous research, but I will show, through three types of attitude, how in most cases a servers disposition rather than service affects the tips he receives. I will be the subject in the study, and my behavior will affect my tips.
4.I have one IV, and that is the servers attitude towards his guests. There are three levels. a. Extremely friendly b. Extremely rude c. neutral (no expression of like or dislike)
Independent groups design.
5. You and I had discussed how I would operationally define my IV, but it escapes me.
Brandon-
Be careful! You aren't really manipulating 'server attitude'..your are manipulating server behavior or presentation style. Don't confuse these terms.
1. Fragrance Test
2. Marci Irvin
3. I have not found any previous research yet but I am still looking. But I hope to find that people prefer fragrances with neat packaging that are pricey as opposed to fragrances with plain packaging that are priced low.
4. I have 2 IVs with two levels each, thus a 2X2 factorial design. The first independent variable is package, which can be operationally defined as whether the bottle of perfume is eye catching or merely a regular looking bottle. The second independent variable is price, which can be operationally defined as low or relatively high price for the perfume.
5. I am planning on using an independent groups design. Should I use repeated measures to ensure that differences would be caused from the package and price and not confounding variables? And I saw that someone is using a control group, do we all have to use a control group?
Marci-
The control group is to provide a comparison condition, which you have already done a good job of including in your design.
Regarding repeated measures, carry over effects might be too powerful to warrant using a repeated measures design.
1. Why do we remember or do not remember dreams
2. Kelly Wright
3. a. it has been found that if a person thinks to themselves before they go to sleep, that they will remember their dreams, then they have a higher success of remembering them.
b. I want to see if this is so and if the type of dream has an effect on how well it is remembered.
c. I think it will dempnstrate that if a person is trying to remember their dreams and if it is a nightmare, then they will be more likely to remember them.
4. summary of design
a. Independent variables: 1. time when asked about dreams 2. type of dream
b. operational definition: 1. asked to remember dreams and write them down for the next week; or asked if they remember any dreams from the last week
2. nightmare or pleseant dream.
c. levels of IV: 1.a. before the week; b. after a week
2. a. nightmare; b. pleasent dream
d. mixed design
1. Opinion change or influence.
2. Katy Ridgway
3. Asch line test and Festinger's theory of social comparison processes.
a) subjects are likely to conform when faced with confederates' responses. a2) we all use society to evaluate ourselves. We judge ourselves by what others say and do.
b) I plan to show conformity using video tapes and confederates. Confederates will influence the subjects' behavior.
4. I am going to have 3 groups. 1- subjects watching a film alone.-subjects watching a film clip with confederates saying the clip was boring and that the movie would be dumb. and 3- subjects watching the clip with confederates that say the movie would be good, the clip is good etc.I will always use a film clip to a movie the subject has not seen- this way the subjects can't use prior knowledge about the film-or feelings. I will measure the feelings of the subjects by first asking them out loud how they feel about the movie clip and if they think the movie would be good. (those with confederates will be asked after the confederates as to make sure they will feel more pressure to conform.) Then all of the subjects will fill out a short questionnaire- asking more about their likes and dislikes of the movie clip. I will then compare the two forms of response- I hope to see a difference not only between subjects alone vs. confederates but also between the out loud response and the written response.
Katy-
How exactly will you measure these feelings?
COMPARING COOPERATIVENESS IN ELEMENTARY AGE CHILDREN IN A HANDS-ON SCIENCE MUSEUM
MELANIE NIESWIADOMY
PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT GIRLS COOPERATE BETTER THAN BOYS AND THAT BOYS COMPETE MORE THAN GIRLS IN A PLAY SETTING. CURRENT RESEARCH HAS NOT REALLY SHOWN ANY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE.
I PLAN TO OBSERVE 12 BOYS AND GIRLS DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS BEING BOYS, GIRLS, AND BOYS AND GIRLS. I WILL OBSERVE EACH GROUP AT A DIFFERENT PLAY STATION FOR 15 MINUTES EACH. THE STATION CONSIST OF THE WIND TUNNEL, TOPS, AND BUILDING BLOCKS. THE EXPERIMENT WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE FORT WORTH MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND HISTORY.
A. THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE WILL BE GENDER
B. THE OPERATIONAL DEFINTION WILL BE TO DETERMINE THAT THE PREVIOUS RESEARCH WAS CORRECT.
C. EACH LEVEL OF INDEPENDENT VARIABLE WILL BE GIRLS, BOYS, AND BOYS & GIRLS (MIXED).
D. THIS WILL BE A MIXED DESIGN.
Melanie-
How can this be a mixed design with only one Independent Variable?
1. The Effect of Various Types of Music on Relaxation
2. Joanna Rumian
3. a.) Previous Research by Thomas G. Logan and Allan R. Roberts has shown that a subject's relaxation level tends to be highest when there is an absence of music altogether.
b.) I plan to incorporate various types of music in my experiment. In addition, I will consider gender as a factor.
c.) I hope to demostrate that different types of music produce different levels of relaxation. I believe that music, in general, enables a greater level of relaxation than just quiet time. Also, I believe that males and females differ in the type of music which conveys the greatest relaxation.
4. My design is a 3 X 2 factorial.
a.) I have 2 IVs. One is type of music and the other is gender.
b.) Type of music is operationally defined as either jazz, techno, or classical. Gender is operationally defined as either male or female.
c.) Type of music has 3 levels: jazz (selected piece by Charlie Parker), techno (piece composed by various artists), and classical (selected piece by Mozart). Gender has 2 levels: basically male and female.
d.) I will use a repeated measures design.
5. What is the least amount of subjects recommended for such an experiment?
Joanna-
How will you operationally define "relaxation"?
1.Olestra in the U.S.
2.Ashley Burton
3.A study by Kern, McPhee, Fisher, Johnson and Burch shows that americans learn to prefer foods associated with high fat content. I plan to show that Olestra chips have no fat and tastes good. I believe if the people do not know they are eating a fat free chip they will not be able to tell the difference unless they are very health concious to begin with.
4.There are 2 ind. variables. One is type of chip and the other is healthy/unhealthy concious individuals. The type of chip is operationally defined as being olestra or regular. Being health concious or not will be operationally defined by a questionaire before they taste the chip and rate it. The type of chip has two levels:high in fat or not. The healthy/unhealthy concious variable has two levels:low and high. This will be an independant groups design.
1. Who is more observant- males or females?
2. Amy Atherton
3. a. I am still searching for previous research on this subject.
b. I am including gender as an independent variable.
c. I hope to demonstrate that one gender is more observant than the other.
4. a. I have two independent variables. One is gender and the other is the level of observation.
b. Gender will be operationally defined as male or female. The level of observation will be defined as few observations (less than 5) or many observations (more than 5).
c. I have two levels of each independent variable. These are males , females and few observations, many observations.
d. I will use an independent groups design.
5. I have no questions at this time.
Amy-
You describe "Level of Observation" as an Independent Variable -- are you manipulating this? It sounds like level of observation is really your dependent variable. How will you operationally define this?
Also, that leaves you with only one IV: gender. That means you only have two treatment groups. What will your other IV be?
1. The Effects of Eating on Attentiveness
2. Cindy Painter
3. I haven't found any previous research yet, but I'm hoping to find that eating increases attentiveness during class and that there is a difference in attentiveness across gender.
4. I will be using a 2X2 factorial design
a. I will have two independent variables, one being eating and the other being gender.
b. The operational definition of eating is having the student eat a "normal" lunch (what they would usually eat on any given day) and then having the student not eat lunch at all. Gender is operationally defined as male and female.
c. There will be two levels to each independent variable. one is male vs. female and the other is eating vs. not eating.
d. I will use a repeated measure design.
Cindy-
How will you measure attentiveness? Will the person doing the measuring be aware of the hypothesis?
1. Groups and gender in perception of violence
2. Tanya Schroeder
3. previous research
a. (Moore& Cockerton, 1996)viewers who after watching a movie clip saw biolence as justified were more likely to view the violence as less extreme, whereas the opposite was true of the viewers who saw the violence as unjustified. The I.V. here was verbal background given from the experimenter to manipulate the view of justification. (Turkat, 1977) found a positive correlation between the hours a person spends watching violence on televion and his perference for continued violence watching. (Thomas, Horton, Lippincott,& Drabman, 1976)found less physiological response to witnessing real life violence after viewing fictional violence on television. (Josephson, 1987) found in boys in grades 2 and 3 after watching violence, having been frustrated either before viewing the violence or after. If the character that the boys viewed was a heroic one then the boys displayed more aggression viewing the violence as justifiable thus acceptable.
b. New: The experimenter in the current study takes into account the gender differences in violence perception as well as the social differences.
c. Hypothesis: Males in groups will view the violence as more acceptable, while females in groups will view the violence with more opposing emotional response. Between the two genders in the individual setting the males will view the violence as more acceptable and the females will view the violence with more emotional response. Between the individuals and the groups the individuals will view the violence as more acceptable than the groups.
4. summary of design:A 2x2 factorial, independents group design was employed.
a. there was one I.V.
b. the experimenter manipulated whether or not a participant biewed the video clip alone or with other same sex participants.
c. there were two levels. Level one participant views clip with no one else in the room. Level two the participant views the clip with other same sex peers in the room.
1. I haven't even begun to think about a title, suggestion are welcome.
2.Jessica Karam
3. Studies like mine have been conducted with everything from food to cloths. Previous experiments have produced evidence supoporting each possible outcome of the experiment.
4. 2x2 factorial design.
a) two independent variables. the first is cereal type nad the second is packaging type.
b)
c) each IV has two levels. IV 1: cereal A and cereal B.
IV 2: Packaged in a yellow promotional box and the other in a clear plastic bag.
d) indepentent groups design, but does anyone have any suggestions of how I could possilby use mixed design?
5. If anyone had any suggestions or sees an eaiser way of going about the experiment I would greaatly appreciate your input.
I was trying to put this question under the question category, but I couldn't for some reason...sorry. Any way TO MR. MORELAND: In my experiment I am measuring the effects of packaging on how much a person likes a cereal. It is eaiser to use independent measures design when calculating the T and F tests, but for my research it would be more beneficial to use a mixed design, exactly how hard and confusing would it be to calculate t and F tests for a mixed design?
jessica
Mr. Moreland, I am still having problems locating relevant past research. I have looked in the library using PsycLit but I am unable to find anything that is directly relevant. I have searched with fragrance, package, price, and then limited my search. (My experiment is the one with the two different bottles of perfume and two different prices, but is really the same perfume). Do you have any suggestions as to how I should be looking up this past research?